Gunpowder Ninja
by Kisame Hoshigaki the Scourge
Summary: Naruto is taken away at the age of seven by Vincent Valentine for training. When he returns, everyone else is blown away by his growth. Naruto/FFVII crossover. Strong Naruto. Pairings undecided.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, this is my second attempt at fanfiction. Hopefully this time it will be more successful. Anyway, I have a contest, anyone who would like to suggest a blood limit that Naruto obtains, or if he shouldn't obtain one. If he does get one, it can either be an existing blood limit, or one that you suggest. If you suggest it, then it must be described in detail, such as visible effects, what it does, and anything else that is of consequence. **

**I do not in any way own Naruto. I do not in anyway own Final Fantasy VII. They are the property of Kishimoto and Square Enix respectfully.**

**EDIT: Guess who's back bitches? Just a minor grammatical redo, as my grammar sucks. Before anyone asks, I had some family stuff that I had to take care of, but I am writing chapter 3, and I promise that it will come out soon.  
**

**Prologue: The Beginning **

A spark of lighting lit the night sky as a young boy fled from an angry mob. The boy was no more then seven, and yet his bright blue eyes told tales of a dark past, filled with bloodshed and neglect. His blond hair was plastered to face by the rain, getting in his eyes as he ran from the mob. He wore a bright orange jacket, highlighted by blue and orange pants to match. The clothing was several sizes to large for him, which was apparent as he would trip every few seconds.

The mob behind him was made up of roughly thirty people, waving pitch-forks and brandishing knives. The all appeared to be over the age of thirty, and had looks of pure hatred on their faces. As the young boy fled, the mob would yell things like, "Kill the demon", or, "Destroy him". The child turned around the next corner in his desperate flee, only to gape at the brick wall that ended the street. He was trapped between the approaching mob, and the wall, with nowhere to go. As the rain poured down, the mob closed in on the child.

The first man to get to him was staggering, and waving a knife. He was obviously intoxicated, but this didn't stop him from staggering forward with the knife ready. As he reached the boy he laughed and said, "Time for me to finish what the fourth started." The crowd went silent, just as the man swung the knife down, and the boy screamed as his right hand fell from his arm. The man's smile only grew larger upon hearing the scream and drew back to cut him again, when a loud bang broke the night. The man looked down in horror as blood began to spread along his chest, staining his shirt.

The man fell backwards, and even though the boy knew nothing medical related, he could tell the man was dead. Someone in the crowd screamed out, "Demon, what did you do! Look the demon has killed him!" The crowd instantly went into an uproar; so many people talking so loudly that none of them could be heard. Suddenly another bang was heard, but this time no one was injured. The crowd looked around frantically for the source of the noise until the saw a man standing on the roof above the boy, with a smoking object in his hand.

The man was wearing a dark red cloak that was in torn to shreds at the bottom. This covered a black full body suit, which showed off his lithe form. A black head-band kept his long dark hair from falling into his eyes, which were a shocking red. But most unnerving was a clawed, golden gauntlet attached to his arm. The man jumped off the roof, and landed in front of the boy who looked astonished. He glanced back and said, "You are going to be okay." The boy nodded apprehensively, as though it was obviously meant to be a comforting statement, no amount of warmth penetrated the stranger's voice. The man held up the object, which was no longer smoking and said in the same, emotionless voice, "Leave the child alone." A woman in the mob, holding a large knife screamed, "Why do you protect the demon? He will kill us all in time!" The mob all yelled out signs of agreement, until the man began to finger the device in his hand.

The device was about a foot long, and was made of metal. At the end, it became a grip much like that of a sword, except for a lever that the man had his pointer finger resting on. The end of the weapon wasn't sharp, so it wasn't a type of sword or dagger, but it had three circular pipes, which opened at the end. Along the three pipes, the heads of snarling dogs were engraved. He brought the device up in a flash of metal, and pointed it at the woman. Before she could get out of the way, the man pulled the lever with his finger and a small explosion was heard. Smoke erupted from the device as a circular hole appeared in the woman's forehead and she collapsed, unmoving.

The cloaked man lowered the device and said, "Go home, while you still can", his voice not not even hinting at the fact he had just killed a woman. As he said these words, the group began to back away from him, only for another voice to call out, "Where do you think you're going?" As the mob turned, they saw a group dressed in black cloaks, and wearing white masks, painted to look like animals. The cloaked man turned to the boy and knelt down next to him. The boy was bleeding heavily from the stump where his hand used to be. The man looked into the boy's pain filled eyes and asked, "Who are you?" The boy was being to feel faint from blood loss, but managed to respond, "Naruto Uzumaki." The man nodded and Naruto began to drift into unconsciousness, but not before he heard the man respond, "I'm Vincent Valentine."

* * *

When Naruto awoke, he was in a hospital bed, with a heavily bandaged arm. He struggled to remember what had happened yesterday, before it all came flooding back. He slowly sat up and thought of all that he would lose because of his accident. He couldn't be a shinobi with only one hand, hand-seals would be impossible, as would wielding any type of large weapon. Taijutsu would also be awkward; having only one hand would throw off his balance. Because he couldn't be a shinobi, reaching his goal of Hokage would be impossible. As Naruto realized this his eyes began to tear up, and he was about to break down into tears when the door opened.

Vincent stood in the doorway, and walked over to Naruto. As he approached, Naruto looked a bit afraid, as if he thought he would attack him at any moment. He sat down on the edge of the hospital bed, and asked in his usual voice, "How are you feeling today?" Naruto was shocked that anyone cared enough to ask him that besides the Old Man, and he didn't even know this man. Naruto smiled and said, "I'm feeling fine." Vincent's emotionless face turned down slightly, and he said, "Don't hide your true feelings from me. You may be able to use that mask to hide from your friends, but not from me."

Naruto's smile faltered, before he broke down and began crying into the Vincent's cloaked shoulder. Vincent looked uncomfortable, as if he wasn't sure what to do, then decided to awkwardly pat the child's back with his good hand. This, if anything, made him cry harder. After a few minutes, Naruto managed to regain some composure, and pulled back, choking slightly. Naruto nodded and said, "Thank you. I needed that." Vincent nodded slightly, still looking rather uncomfortable at being touched, and threw Naruto's jumpsuit to him saying, "The Hokage wants to see you. Get dressed." He then glided out of the room, leaving Naruto to awkwardly put on his jumpsuit.

He left the room to see Vincent leaning against the wall waiting for him. They walked down the halls of the hospital, until they reached the reception desk. They approached and got Naruto signed out of the hospital, and soon they were on their way to the Hokage's office. As they walked down the streets of Konoha, hate filled glares were sent there way. Word of the riot got out, and now all of Konoha knew that the strange man in the red cloak was a "demon sympathizer". Vincent just continued to walk unfaltered, ignored any of the glares sent his way, but Naruto was having a harder time with it. After his mask of happiness was shattered, he wasn't quite sure how to act.

They entered the Hokage Tower, and the receptionist told them to go up to the Hokage's office, but to keep it quick. The quickly went up to the second floor, where Naruto proceeded to barge into the room, followed by Vincent. Upon entering the room, Naruto yelled out, "Hey old man, why did you want to see me?" The Hokage looked up from his paperwork and responded in an annoyed voice, "Naruto, I told you to stop calling me that. Anyway, I have mounds of paperwork to do, so I'll keep it blunt. This man has asked if he could train you in the arts of the shinobi, among other things. I know this man, and trust him with your safety."

Naruto looked at Vincent, as if for conformation, and when he nodded, Naruto proceeded to scream, "Yatta!" Vincent ignored Naruto's outburst, and then said to the Hokage, "I'm leaving tomorrow. Is this acceptable? I will be back by the time he's twelve." The Hokage nodded, looking pleased, while Naruto asked, "I thought you were going to be training me?" He turned to look at Naruto and said, "I will be training you. You're coming with me, and we're going to be leaving the elemental continents. By the time your twelve, you'll be strong enough to become a chunnin, if not a special Jonin."

At this statement Naruto's eyes lit up in excitement, and he began to smile like he was the luckiest man alive. The Hokage chuckled and said, "Well, if that is all, I would like to get this finished. Naruto, you should pack, because you're leaving tomorrow at five in the morning. Pack for a long while, because you won't be here for a few years." Naruto responded, "Sure thing old man", and proceeded to leap out of the window. The Hokage got up to watch him, but he was already out of eyesight. The Hokage, without turning asked, "You will look after him, won't you?" Upon getting no response, Sarutobi turned to see that Vincent had vanished without a trace. Sarutobi frowned, before walking back to his desk grumbling, "Why does no one ever use the damn door?"

* * *

At Naruto's house, said boy was stuffing all of his meager possessions into a large backpack. A second smaller backpack was filled with as many ramen packages as he could fit inside. Naruto grabbed his frog shaped wallet, which he had dubbed Gama-chan, and put it in the backpack. He then zippered it shut and left it by the door. Having nothing else to prepare, Naruto decided to turn in. It was going to be an early morning, and he wanted to be on time for a change.

* * *

When Naruto awoke, it was around four thirty. He quickly got up, had a shower, got dressed, ate a breakfast of instant ramen, and was out the door with fifteen minutes to spare. Having nothing better to do, he headed for the gates of the village to wait for his new sensei. As he walked through the village, more and more people were glaring at him. He was used to a few hate filled glares, but now it seemed every second person was doing it. Suddenly, a man rushed out of the crowd waving a knife, screaming, "I will protect my village from the demon."

Naruto turned and ran as fast as possible, but the man was still hot on his heels. As he turned another corner, a wall rushed up to greet him. The man laughed, and said, "Well demon, today you meet your end." As he ran at Naruto, the young boy squeezed his eyes shut, and waited for the pain. After a few seconds however, when no pain was felt, he opened his eyes and found the man's knife being held back by an enormous sword. The man holding the sword was dressed in black pants, and had on a black sleeveless shirt. He had spiky blonde hair, and wore a shoulder pad, covered in dull spikes. He wore white gloves, and held the huge sword like it was nothing, but it was obviously extremely heavy.

The man looked down at Naruto and smiled, before shifting his grip on the blade. He then looked over the blade at the other man, before saying, "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to pick on kids smaller then you?" He once again shifted his grip, but this time a part of the blade seemed to jump off, into the man's hand. Holding down the knife with the huge sword, now held in only one hand, he quickly slashed the attacker across the chest with the sword, before reattaching it to the huge blade. The man looked stunnned for a moment, before falling in two different directions, as his severed torso bled out. Naruto's savior turned and smiled at him, before asking, "What did you do to get him so mad?" Naruto looked downcast, and said in a low, sad voice, "Nothing. I was going to meet my sensei, and he just attacked." The man frowned and asked, "Where are you meeting him?" Naruto replied, "In front of the village gates. We're going on a training mission." The man smiled then laughed, but managed to respond, "Well I can accompany you. I just so happen to be meeting someone at the gates as well."

Naruto looked happy at this thought, and then ran out of the alley to try to get to the gates on time. The blonde man kept up with him perfectly, and yelled over to Naruto, "I'm Cloud Strife, what's your name?" Naruto yelled back, "Naruto Uzumaki." Cloud grinned and responded, "Nice to meet you." As they approached the gates, Cloud slowed down, and stopped right before smashing into the wall, but Naruto was not so lucky. Cloud winced at the cracking noise that was heard as Naruto ran full speed into the stone wall. As Naruto got back up, he looked around and said, "I don't see my sensei here anywhere." Just then a voice said from behind Naruto, "Hello." Naruto jumped in fright, before turning to see Vincent sitting on the ground, using the gate as support. Cloud waved to him, and the man nodded. The cloaked man got up, and grabbed Naruto, and together, Naruto, Vincent, and Cloud left the village.

They traveled for a little while into the forest surrounding Konoha before Cloud stopped, and pulled a machine out of the undergrowth. He sat down on the machine, and gestured to Naruto to sit behind him. The machine was large, and had two wheels. It was bulky, and had two pipes that were charred looking sticking out of the back. At the front two grips were being held onto by Cloud. Naruto hopped up onto the machine, wondering what in the world it could possibly do. As his new sensei swept back his cloak and sat down, Cloud hit a button on the machine and two compartments popped out on either side of the machine. The compartments had multiple racks in them, and Cloud sheathed his large sword into one of the racks. He then pressed another button, and the compartments retracted into the machine. Cloud then twisted his hands on one of the grips and a loud roaring filled the forest.

"Hang on", Cloud yelled over the noise, then he kicked a lever with his foot, and the machine went racing off. Naruto was holding onto Clouds waist for dear life with his one good hand, afraid of what else these strange people could do. They were obviously proficient with machinery, and looked like fighters, so he could only assume they were used to fighting. Shifting in his seat so he could see his new sensei, he yelled, "What is this thing?" Vincent looked down at Naruto and responded, "It's a motorcycle." Naruto shook his head at the strange word, and was about to question him more when Cloud shouted, "I'm going to go a bit faster. We need to be outside the Shinobi Continents by tomorrow."

Naruto looked up at Vincent and asked, "What does he mean outside of the Shinobi Continents?" Vincent instantly went into something Naruto called 'lecture mode'. This is when a question is asked of someone, and they give a long-winded and boring answer, that could be explained by simpler means. "Well, the Shinobi Continentsare where you grew up, and are also known as the five great nations. They are hidden from the rest of the world with a chakra barrier that serves to both keep out our people, as well as keep in your people. While the shinobi continents focused on the devlepoment of chakra, and the body, the world outside focused on creating technology and developing the mind. They use technology to fight, and to make tasks simpler. Like this Motorcycle. It is device we have created in order to move faster. While some still could run and keep up with this vehicle, it is easier to just ride to your destination." Naruto looked confused, but he nodded slowly as understanding came.

As night fell, Naruto became tired. He struggled to stay awake, but eventually fell asleep on the bike, gripping Cloud with his one good arm.

* * *

Naruto awoke to the roar of Clouds motorcycle. As he yawned Vincent leaned in and said, "Look ahead." Naruto leaned sideways and almost fell off the bike at what he saw. A huge shimmering wall was right in front of them, and Cloud was moving drictly towards it. Naruto knew about Chakra burns, and he knew that much chakra would burn the flesh off his bones. As they were about to hit the wall, Naruto shut his eyes, and prepared for the pain, but nothing happened. When he opened his eyes again, the chakra barrier was behind them. Cloud looked back, tapped the bike and said, "Chakra armour. It protects us from all forms of chakra."

Naruto nodded and smiled. His new life began now, and he was going to make the most of it in this strange new world. He didn't know what he would experience, but he was ready to find out. That's when he made himself a promise. he would learn as much as possible from these people, and absorb there culture. When he returned, he would pass it on to his own people. Naruto laughed at the thought. The demon of Konoha, bringing it a whole new lifestyle. He wasn't sure whether or not it would be accepted, but he was sure that Konoha would never be the same.

* * *

**And that's it! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter, and remember the contest. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out where the chakra armour came from, but for all of you scratching your heads; it was introduced in the first Naruto movie, Naruto: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow.**

**Note this is a prologue. The real chapters will be much longer. **

**Remember to review! Constuctive crititism is welcome.**

**Kisame Hoshigaki out!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys. I'm pumped for this story, because I have had this idea for a long time. I have a few other ideas that I'll put out after a while, but for now, enjoy Gunpowder Ninja. Remember to vote for the bloodline, I'm not sure when it will come in, or if it will come in, but you, the readers, decide. R&R!**

**For anyone interested, I changed the storyline of FFVII so that there is an 8 year break between FFVII and Advent Children. This means, that Naruto Shippuden is on par with Advent Children. That also means that Dirge of ****Cerberus is just starting.**

**I do not in any way own Naruto. I do not in anyway own Final Fantasy VII. They are the property of Kishimoto and Square Enix respectfully.**

**EDIT: Same as last Chapter. Also, for those confused about the time line, the ONLY thing I'm changing is the length of time between FFVII and Advent Children.  
**

**Chapter 1 – Growth**

Five years have passed since Vincent arrived to take Naruto off for his training to become powerful. He now stood at 5'5, an incredible height for a twelve year old. However an inch of his height was in fact his large black combat boots. The sole was made extremely thickly to reduce the effect of caltrops, or other such spiked weapons. He wore black sunglasses that completely covered his brilliant blue eyes, and his long blond hair fell past his shoulders, two spikes jutting out and falling down his face(1). He was not extremely muscular, but all of the baby fat he once possessed was gone. This was hard to tell however due to the black trench coat that swept the ground as he walked, attached to which was a high collar, that covered the lower portion of his face. He wore black leather gloves; however his right hand seemed to be more of a claw then a hand, as the tips of the fingers were all rather pointed. The coat was open, so his black t-shirt was visible, as were his tight leather pants. Also visible were two weapons sheathed on either hip. His pants were held up by a large buckle with a grinning skull on it. Right next to the skull, a knife panted black was in the belt. It had no sheath so its deadly blade was easily seen(2). All in all, he looked extremely bad-ass, as many swooning females proved. As he walked down a street with Vincent and Cloud, he asked in a bored tone, "So what are we doing today?"

Vincent responded in an equally bored tone, "Nothing. Your training is done, and your going back to Konoha. We'll be around from time to time, but we can't come with you. Cloud and I have some urgent business to attend to, so you're going back on your own." Naruto nodded. One of the first things Red XIII and Cat Sith had pounded into his head were maps of every mapped area in the world. This included the shinobi contents, and almost ever other centimeter of space in the known world. Cloud then said in a voice that was a bit more cheery, "Because you're going back on your own, we got you a going away present." Naruto gave him a questioning look, and Cloud just grinned. As they left town, Cloud went over to the area where his bike was parked. To Naruto's amazement a second bike was parked with Clouds. Cloud grinned and said, "I thought you would like it. I had it customized to fit you a little bit better. From your expression, I can guess you like it."

To Naruto 'like' was an understatement. The bike had nine exhaust pipes, four on the right side, four on the left side, and one directly under the seat. They were all painted to look like red fox tales. The handle bar was a flaming red, and the point where the handles joined a red, metal fox head popped out. The rest of the bike was similar to Clouds, except it was painted a blazing red, and the tires had grinning fox-heads painted in the center. Naruto went over to the bike and noticed a large button right beneath the fox head. He shot a questioning look to Cloud who just shrugged and said, "Push it." Naruto did as instructed, and upon pushing the button, two compartments popped out of either side of the bike, like on Clouds bike, but instead of swords sheathed into racks, a few guns were sheathed into the racks. Naruto pulled out the first one and found it was an exact copy of Vincent's revolver, Cerberus. It had three barrels, each of the barrels had a running dog design along it, and could be reloaded extremely quickly for rapid fire. The only thing it was missing was the charm on the grip, which was instead replaced with a small compartment. He flipped said a compartment and three small orbs fell out.

Naruto's eye's widened slightly at the first orb. It was a red orb, about the size of a tennis ball. It was a mastered summon materia, one of the rarest materia in the world. Obtaining it must have cost a small fortune, and it would be near irreplaceable. The next orb was just as rare as the first. It was a bright green gem, slightly smaller then the first one, but just as powerful. It was a mastered magic materia. This would have cost about the same as the summon materia. Considering that he had obtained two mastered materia, he assumed they were either bought from the same source, or that Yuffie had been persuaded to let him 'borrow' her materia. The former was more likely, as Yuffie was extremely protective of her materia. Naruto had learned that the hard way during one of their lessons, when was learning about materia. Not understanding what it was, Naruto made a grab for it, attempting a closer inspection. He had nearly lost his hand via giant shuriken for that mistake. After that he learned taking materia from the female ninja was a very bad idea.

If Naruto had been surprised with the first two materia, the next one nearly gave him a heart attack. A shining black gem was the third materia to fall out. Cloud and Vincent had told him of the black materia, and how they fought to keep Sephiroth from using it. Loosing all composure, and looking over at Cloud with a look of pure shock, he asked, "Why the hell are you giving this to me? You told me it could destroy the damn planet, so I don't think using it would be a good idea." Cloud shook his head and said, "Cid found a way to dilute its power to an extreme margin. Now instead of destroying the planet, it will just destroy everything within a one mile radius." Naruto grinned, before regaining his composure and popped the materia back into the fake Cerberus.

The next weapon he pulled out was a folding rifle, with a sword blade attached. It had a joint in the middle the allowed the barrel to swing away from the rest of the weapon, and fold up, cutting the size in half. Naruto unfolded it, and locked the barrel into place. Along the edge, the word 'Cyclops' was engraved, and next to it, was an engraved eye. It had an extra long barrel for increased accuracy, and a materia slot in the stock. It was a single shot, so after a shot it would take a while to reload, but with an incredibly long range, that wasn't much of an issue. He snapped the weapon shut, and put it back in the bike, and pulled out the next one. The next weapon was an exact replica of Vincent's most powerful weapon, the "Death Penalty." It was a rifle, that looked ordinary at first glance, but upon closer inspection, power seemed to radiate off of it. It had a magazine much like a revolver, and was pump action, so in between shots it was pumped for a new round to enter the chamber. It had a feather sticking out of the barrel, that had runes engraved on it, so that for every enemy defeated, the weapon would become more powerful. It was powerful even now, so this suggested someone had already been using it.

Naruto re-sheathed the rifle and yelled over to Cloud, who was getting ready to depart, "Thanks for the equipment. I have a feeling I'm going to be needing it, if Konoha ninja are as good as you say." Cloud nodded, and started up his engine, waiting until Vincent was on the bike, then drove off as fast as the speedometer would allow. Naruto grinned lightly and sat down on his own bike. He pressed button again to retract the weapon racks, and started up his own engine. He had been extremely interested in Cloud's motorcycle, so Cloud decided to teach him to drive it. He wasn't very good at first but in time he became as good a driver as Cloud, some said better. He kicked the bike off, and pushed the engine as fast as it could go. He had a lot of ground to cover and he wanted to get back to his home as fast as possible. As he drove, his mind wandered off. He wondered what his class mates would be like, who his teacher would be, would he learn anything, and most importantly how was the old man doing.

Back in Konoha, Sarutobi sneezed. _I hope I'm not coming down with a cold_ he thought before forgetting about it, and returning to his paper work, that was piled on every visible surface.

A few hours passed, and Naruto was at the chakra barrier. Just before he hit it, he thought _I hope cloud installed chakra amour or this is going to be painful_. Luckily for him, Cloud was thinking ahead, and he got through the barrier no problem. As he burst through the other side, his heart was racing. The barrier was located just past the Rice country, so there were no shinobi villages around to bother him. As he raced along the worn path that lead from rice country, he was suddenly aware he was being followed. Twisting in his seat, he looked over his shoulder and spotted five shinobi converging on him. The headbands they wore were unfamiliar, a single music note, but he assumed they were hostile, because they were using extreme stealth tatics, but until they made a move, he wasn't going to antagonize potential friendlies. As he turned a little more, the shinobi were suddenly aware that their presence was known, so they unleashed a storm of shuriken. Naruto ducked down onto the bike, and the shuriken passed over him harmlessly. He pressed a button on one of the handles, then pressed the button for the weapon rack. He spun around in the seat so he was facing the ninja, and was riding the bike backwards. He grabbed Death Penalty, and swung it up at the enemy shinobi. His first shot hit the leader dead center, he went flying backwards with blood spraying from his wound. The next two shots hit there marks as well, dropping two more shinobi. The last two however were smarter, and fled into the trees on either side of the path. Naruto sheathed death penalty, and pulled out Cerberus. He pointed it in the general area of the mysterious shinobi, before yelling, "Meteor!" The effect was instant. A giant fireball descended from the sky, and exploded directly behind him, destroying the forest a burning the shinobi alive. Naruto grinned and popped weapon back into the compartment. He was nearly at the fire country borders so he wanted to make a good impression.

Within hours after breaking through the chakra barrier, he was nearing the gates of Konoha. Deciding he would make a big entrance, he accelerated a little more, and burst out of the forest surrounding the gates. Before the guards could register what was happening, Naruto was driving down the streets of Konoha on his Kyubbi bike. As he neared the Hokage's office, he screeched to a halt, and said impassivly to one of the terrified by-standers, "Look after my bike." He jumped up to the second story window in a flurry of coat, stepped into the Hokage's office, and saw Sarutobi buried under piles of paperwork. Without looking up, the elderly Hokage said, "What is it? I'm very busy." Naruto grinned lightly and replied, "To busy for me Old Man?" The Hokage slowly lifted his head away from the paperwork with a shocked look on his face. When he recovered he asked, "Naruto is that you?" Naruto nodded, and the Hokage smiled warmly before saying in a cheery voice, "Welcome back. I heard a bit of a commotion outside. Would you have anything to do with that?"

Naruto merely eye smiled, and asked, "Do you want to know." Sarutobi sighed and responded, "No. No, I don't. It's good that your back Naruto, tell me, what did you learn while you were gone." Naruto straightened and responded, "Well Vincent-sensei taught me how to use guns, so I don't need kunai or shuriken any more. Cloud-sensei taught me to use swords, but I didn't like them very much. I mainly use gun-swords now." Sarutobi stopped him and asked, "What is a gun-sword? I know what a gun is, Vincent showed me once, but I've never heard of a gun-sword." Naruto reached under his trench coat and pulled out two pistols. They looked like regular revolvers, except along the bottom of the barrel, both had small blades jutting out. Naruto then said, "These are gun-swords. I have a larger one, but I carry these around with me. It's just a gun with a blade attached to it, so it's perfect for close combat, as well as ranged." Sarutobi nodded, and Naruto continued, "Also, Cloud taught me to ride a motorcycle, which is a machine with wheels used for extremely fast transportation. Then Vincent's friends all taught me different things, like his friend Barret, a big guy with a robotic arm, taught me about one-handed seals, something that would be very useful. His friend Yuffie, who is a female shinobi taught me about stealth and these magic gems called materia. Then Cid taught me inventing, and he built me this." As he said this, he slipped his right hand out of the glove, and a golden gauntlet that looked almost exactly like Vincents was attached to his arm.

Sarutobi was shocked to say the least. Of course he was expecting for Naruto to get something to replace his hand, but he didn't think this kind of technology existed. He shook his head, and signaled for Naruto to continue, just now imagining the amount of paper work he would have to fill out. Naruto put his arm back into his sleeve and said, "Well then Red XIII, this red talking feline guy, and Cat Sith, this cat puppet on top of a giant stuffed animal, taught me about the worlds history. Cat Sith also taught me more about jutsu, because for some reason he knew the most about them. Red XIII helped, but it was mainly just knowledge. Being a feline, he can't actually do Jutsu." Sarutobi nodded and replied, "Well, it seems you've gotten much stronger. I'm going to be enrolling you in the academy, but the school year has already started. Actually the genin exams are in one month, so you'll have to work hard to catch up." Naruto nodded and asked, "Where will I be staying?" Sarutobi respond, "I'm going to get you a new apartment. A better one this time." Naruto nodded in agreement, and asked, "Can we get that done now? I think it would be best to start moving in." The Hokage agreed, and wrote a letter to the owner of a local hotel, telling him that by the Hokage's orders, Naruto was going to be staying there. Just as he handed Naruto the paper, a group of frantic ANBU rushed in. The Hokage dismissed them with a stern look, and soon, Naruto was in his new apartment, unpacking.

* * *

Sunlight streamed in through the window, as Naruto slowly rose from his new bed. After he had gotten his new apartment, he unpacked, then immediately fell asleep. It had been a long drive, and he needed to restore his energy. He yawned and slowly made his way towards his shower, bumping into things along the way. After about a half-an-hour, Naruto was clean, dressed, and was about to leave. As he was walking out the door, he paused then put his sword pistols into their concealed holsters, and took off his right glove. He then opened a compartment on the gauntlet and stored his three materia gems within. He then sheathed his knife in his belt and walked out the door. He had left his bike with the Hokage, for fear it would be destroyed, but not before taking out all of his weapons and materia. The academy was only a few blocks from his apartment, so walking wasn't an issue. Most of the townsfolk didn't know that the stranger was Naruto, so he had an enjoyable walk to the academy. As Naruto approached the academy, he could here a bell sounding, signaling that it he was late. He didn't change his pace however, and strolled into his classroom as if he wasn't showing up late. He took a seat directly behind a girl who was nervously tapping her fingers together. He tapped her on the shoulder, and, when she turned around, held out his hand in the familiar gesture of a hand shake and said, "Hello I'm Naruto Uzumaki. It's nice to meet you miss…" The girl blushed a bright red before responding, "Hinata Hyuga. Um… what are you doing?" Naruto realized he was holding out his hand and retracted it before responding, "Old habit."(3)

He then fell silent, and Hinata turned around. Just then the teacher burst into the room. He was in his late 20's and had a large X-shaped scar across the bridge of his nose. He walked to the front of the room, and when he realized everyone was still talking, besides of course Naruto, Shino, Sasuke, Hinata, and Shikimaru(4), he proceeded to scream out, "Shut the hell up!" This got everyone's attention as they immediately stopped talking, and listened intently to Iruka. Iruka cleared his throat and said, "Well then, first things first, we have a new student joining us today, everyone say hello to Naruto Uzumaki." Everyone turned in there seat to look at Naruto who raised one hand and said, "Hello." Sakura put up her hand, and Iruka asked, "What is it Sakura?" "Sensei, why is Naruto joining us so late in the year? I mean, the exams are only a month away." Iruka nodded then responded, "Yes, but Naruto is a special case. He left at seven to go on a training trip. He is easily genin level already." Naruto snorted and whispered "more like Chunin." This did not go unnoticed by one scarred instructor, who yelled out, "Well, if you think your so great we always start class with a little physical training. This includes a spar. Everyone outside now." After everyone had filtered outside, Iruka got them to line up in front of a series of practice dummies. "Alright everyone, we're going to be doing a little ranged combat training. Ranged weapons out!" Every one pulled out either a kunai or a shuriken, except for Naruto who pulled out his dual gun swords. Everyone stared at them with interest, but said nothing. The first to go was none other then Hinata Hyuga.

She got only 2/5 hits, a pitiful number. Naruto however noticed that whenever she went to throw, she pulled up slightly, and he knew it wasn't an accident. He wondered why she would be throwing away points on purpose, but he decided that it wasn't his place to judge(5). As more people threw their weapons, Naruto came to realize that this wasn't going to be anywhere near as tough as he expected it to be. Some of the people here were horrible, Shikimaru hit 1/5 targets. If some of these people didn't have bloodlines, they wouldn't be worthy of being called shinobi. Finally only two people were left on the target range, Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke. The Uchiha walked into the shooting area, then launched all of his shuriken at once. The each lodged them selves firmly in the center of each of the dummies, something that shouldn't have been a major accomplishment, but the class was cheering as if he had just killed an s-rank missing nin. The Uchiha walked away with a smirk on his face, but it didn't last long. Naruto strode into the shooting area, and Iruka yelled over to him, "Naruto get out your ranged weapon and put away the swords." Naruto just looked towards him impassively, before drawing up his guns. Ten shots rang out over the training field, and when they died away, each of the dummies had holes where their hearts and brains would have been. Iruka stood shocked for a minute, before yelling over, "Naruto what did you do?" Naruto peered closely at the dummies and then said, "I appear to have killed them." The class sweat dropped and Iruka said, "Very good Naruto. OK everyone over to the sparring grounds."

The sparring grounds turned out to be a few rough patches of dirt where the children would fight to the last person. Of course killing was out, so the had to use non-lethal moves. As soon as the match started Naruto drew his pistols, and three shots rang out. Three kids fell over, holding their arms. They were eliminated and sent to see the nurse to remove the smoldering pieces of metal now lodged in their arms. He then turned to the rest of the group who collectively flinched at his impassive gaze. He ran straight at the first nameless shinobi candidate in his way, dodged the sloppy punch thrown at his, and held his blade up to his opponents neck. As soon as his opponent quit, he rushed the next person in his way who happened to be Shino Aburame. He knew all about this guy and his bug techniques, but he had a way to counter it. Dashing at the Aburame, he holstered his guns and readied his gauntlet. Channeling chakra through it, he brushed it all against his cloak, and soon popping noises filled the air as the bodies of insects exploded from the heat. He grinned at the Aburame before punching him through a tree, knocking him unconscious. He then swept the gauntlet over his clothing again to be sure he had gotten rid of the insects, before moving onto the next opponent. This continued for a while, until only Sasuke and Naruto were left standing. Naruto looked impassively towards him, and said, "I won't hold back." The Uchiha grinned before replying, "I would hope so. That makes it so much more fun to beat you." Naruto dropped into a stance that no one could recognize, and pulled off the glove on his right hand. The golden gauntlet sparkled in the light, as if enjoying the attention. Naruto pulled out his knife with his left hand, before pointing the glove at the Uchiha and yelling, "Fire!" A large fireball raced out of Naruto's hand to hit the Uchiha but he wasn't there. Suddenly Sasuke was behind Naruto with a kunai in hand. He swung downward, only to be blocked by Naruto's knife. Letting go of the kunai, he backflipped away from Naruto, right into a fireball that he had fired at the last moment. The Uchiha collapsed, and when he went to get back up, he felt a knife at the back of his neck. Sasuke couldn't believe it, but it seemed he had lost.

The class stared in awe. This new kid had shown up out of the blue, then on the first day kicked the Uchiha's ass. Naruto pulled his glove back on, and offered a hand to Sasuke who ignored it, and pushed himself up. Iruka congratulated Naruto for winning, and took Sasuke to the nurse. Getting hit by a fireball takes a lot out of a person. The rest of the day went by uneventfully. They had a lecture on chakra control which Naruto slept through. The bell rung, waking him up. As he stood and stretched out, Sasuke approached him and asked, "Where did you get this power?" Naruto looked down at Sasuke, and responded, "From training. But there is more to it." Sasuke looked up at him and responded in a dark tone, "Tell me." Naruto shook his head and asked, "What do you want the power for? I refuse to give it to you if you would use it for the wrong reasons." Sasuke gazed downwards and responded, "I must use it to avenge my clan by killing my brother. I'm too weak now, and I can only avenge them if I have more power." Naruto shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, but I can't give you this power. The reason is, my power comes from my will to protect, not to destroy." Naruto then left the building, to give him time to think over what he had said. This dramatic moment was ruined however, as Naruto ran into a large group outside the academy waiting for him. People screamed out questions, and Naruto formed his hands into a familiar seal. Suddenly Naruto went up in a puff of smoke, and when it cleared, he was gone. People ran around frantically, searching for him, including a rather large group of fan girls.

Naruto shook his head as he absorbed the information that he received from the shadow clone. He had used Kawarimi to switch himself with a shadow clone, and escape in the confusion. He was walking down the streets of Konoha, not really caring where it was he was going. After awhile he found himself at a training ground called training ground #44, or the Forest of Death. He shrugged. He had nothing better to do, so he decided exploring the incredibly dangerous training area sounded fun. He was at a Special Jonin level, so he didn't have much to worry about. He walked up to the gates, and discovered a large pad-lock preventing him from going any further. While he could have broken the lock, that would alert others that he was here, so he had to find an alternate way in. He began channeling chakra into his legs, and when he had the correct amount, he released it just as he jumped. He had gotten this idea after hearing how Tsunade increased her strength, by releasing the chakra just as she punched. He only had to modify it to fit other purposes. After he touched down on the other side, he ran into the forest to see if it truly deserved to be called 'the Forest of Death'.

An hour later, Naruto had decided to leave. It was a good training ground, and he had a feeling he would be back often. He jumped the fence again and began to make his way back home. It seemed word had gotten out that the 'Demon Brat' was back in Konoha, because Naruto was being treated poorly once again. He was given many cold stares, and more then one death threat. As he made his way across town, he realized that his apartment was only a few blocks from Ichiraku Ramen, so he decided to stop in and see how they were doing. Upon entering the shop, Ayame came out and said, "Hello welcome to Ichiraku Ramen, what would you like to order?" Naruto tilted his head to the side slightly and asked, "Always the same eh, Ayame?" She looked at the blond for a few seconds before asking, "Naruto?" When he nodded, she screamed, "Kawaii" and hugged him in a grip that would put Tsunade to shame. Naruto managed to say, in a choked voice, "It's good to see you too Ayame, now would you let go… your choking me." After she let go, and Naruto regained his breath, she yelled into the kitchen behind the counter, "Dad, guess who's here!" Ichiraku came out, but when he saw the blond, his eyes lit up as if someone had just offered him a million dollars. And considering Naruto's track record, that was a possibility. He proceeded to dance while screaming, "My best customer is back! I'm rich! Rich!" While Ichiraku was crying from joy, Naruto and Ayame were talking about what had happened after they had last seen each other. Ayame talked about how she had become better at cooking ramen, while Naruto talked about his training, and how much stronger he had gotten.

After Ichiraku had calmed down, Naruto ordered a bowl of miso ramen, and devoured it. Ayame, who was still sitting next to him, asked, "You ate that like you hadn't seen ramen for years." Naruto shook his head and replied "I havn't. Vincent-sensei made me promise to only eat ramen once a week, and he refused to buy me any. Eventually I ran out." After Naruto had eaten his fill, which happened to be thirty-four bowls, he bade Ichiraku and Ayame farewell, and was on his way. When he had first gotten back to Konoha, something felt different, as if it had changed. As he spent more time there, he realized it wasn't Konoha that changed. It was him.

A month had passed for Naruto in Konoha. He had barely paid attention in class, because he knew everything already. He paid more attention to his class mates. Few had the potential to rise through the shinobi ranks, those that had the will to do so were even fewer. In his opinion the Nara and the Aburame had the most promise. The Hyuga was stronger then she let on, but Naruto decided that whatever her reason, it was her reason. She would be offended if he asked her for it. Naruto contemplated all this, not in the least worried about the test that was about to happen. Iruka burst into the room an got the class quiet, before yelling, "OK the first portion of the test is outside, come on." The children followed him outside, to the shooting range. The target dummies were gone, and instead a few bull eyes were set up in various places. Only a few would be tricky shots, but for Naruto they were going to be a breeze. Many tried and failed, but then it came down to Naruto. He walked into the center of the range, and pulled out both his pistols.

The first target was set in a tree and was facing him directly. He nailed it, then spun and shot another target that was located in the middle of a bush. The next target was on a moving platform, and Naruto blew it right off. The fourth was next to the third, but it wasn't moving so it was an easy shot. The last was hidden behind a rock, and Naruto didn't have a direct line of fire. He fired both pistols, one crossing over the other. None of the students could see the bullets, but Iruka watched in amazement as the projectiles which looked like insanely fast blurs hit each other, and one of them deflected right into the target. Naruto walked off of the course, and Iruka directed them all inside. The next portion of the test was a written test, which Naruto completed in under a minute and then slept for half an hour. When it was over, and Iruka marked them, he was amazed that Naruto once again made perfect scores. The last potion was of Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. The students had to perform the henge, and the clone jutsu. When Naruto was up, he henged into Iruka. It looked perfect so once again, he had perfect scores. The clone jutsu was what surprised most of the class, for he yelled out, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" The class room was suddenly full of shadow clones, and then they were dismissed. When the smoke cleared, Naruto was in front of Iruka, and he said, "You see, my chakra reserves are too massive for the clone jutsu, so I use shadow clones." Iruka shakily grabbed a forehead protector, and handed it to Naruto, who went back to his seat. When class was over, Naruto ran out of the room, and head back to his apartment to celebrate a job well done. He suddenly turned and began to head for the training grounds instead. There was a jutsu he wanted to perfect, and he wasn't going to stop until he did.

Many hours later, Naruto was panting from chakra exhaustion, but it was worth it. He had gotten the jutsu he was working on down, and it seemed perfect to him. Turning he called out into the forest, "Come out now. I know that you're watching me." An evil laugh was heard through the clearing, and a person stepped out of the shadows. It was Mizuki, one of the teachers at the academy. Mizuki was carrying a huge scroll on his back, something which Naruto interpreted as bad. "Very good Demon, but now you're going to die", Mizuki shouted in a crazed voice. He pulled out a kunai and hurled it at Naruto who tilted his head to the side, and let it pass. Mizuki screamed in rage, and rushed Naruto, who simply side stepped, then tripped him. Mizuki fell flat on his face and Naruto kicked him while saying, "You're pathetic." Mizuki screamed again, and tried to slice Naruto's throat open with a kunai, but he wasn't there. Suddenly, Mizuki felt a foot on his back, and he was pushed into the ground. Then he felt someone hit him over the back of the head, and the world faded into darkness.

Naruto picked up Mizuki, and began to make his way out of the forest. He headed straight for the Hokage's Tower, ignoring the dirty looks shot at him. When he arrived at the tower, he stormed into the Hokage's Office, and threw Mizuki on top of the desk. The Hokage gaped before asking, "Naruto, what did you do?" Naruto shrugged and said, "I knocked him out." The Hokage laughed and responded, "Good job, Mizuki stole an important scroll from this room while I wasn't here. It seemed like he was going to get away before you caught him." Naruto nodded and described in detail exactly what happened. After his story was over, the Hokage was shook his head and said, "Well I'm going to give Mizuki to Ibiki to practice on. You go home and get some rest, because they're assigning teams tomorrow and your going to need to be alert for it." Naruto nodded and left. Little did he know that this event caused his destiny to go astray. His destiny had been certain before, but now before him their were many paths. Many led to his demise, and some to the demise of those he loved. Only one path was the correct one, but the question still remained. Which one was it?

**Great, that's chapter two done. I hope you all enjoyed it, because I know that I enjoyed writing it. I want the pairing to be Naruto/Ayame, and this will be the pairing, but I'm not sure whether or not it will be a Harem, so I leave it up to you. In your review, vote on whether or not you want the pairing to be Harem. If it isn't Harem the pairing will stand as Naruto/Ayame.**

**1. Think Sephiroth, just blond.**

**2. I am looking for someone to do some concept art for the fic. Specifically for Naruto's Bike, Naruto himself, as well as anything else you would enjoy drawing. PM me, or just leave a comment if your interested. **

**3. It is my understanding that a handshake would be foreign to the Elemental Villages, both as it seems like a risk most of them would never take, and the fact that I have never seen them do it.**

**4. Note that this isn't some attempt at foreshadowing Naruto's friends. This is just a random group I really can't see talking, Naruto through Sasuke for obvious reasons, and Shikimaru because it would be too troublesome.**

**5. *Cough* Blatant Foreshadowing *Cough*  
**

**EDIT: THE PAIRING IS STILL OPEN FOR DEBATE... KEEP VOTING  
**

**That's all for now, Kisame Hoshigaki out!**


End file.
